The 10,500 ton Liberty ship SS JANET LORD ROPER launched June 26, 1943 from Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyard in Baltimore, MD. The ship was part of the U.S.’s revamped shipbuilding effort, which placed emphasis on quick construction turn-around and increased production. Construction of the ship took just 32 days from keel-laying to launching.

“Mother Roper,” as she was known to thousands of merchant seamen, located 6,500 missing sailors through SCI’s Missing Seamen Bureau. She died on April 5, 1943 and more than a thousand seafaring men, from Captains to deckhands, came out to SCI’s chapel to attend her funeral. [see The Lookout 1943 June http://qcarchives.com/sci/items/show/1277, and SS Janet Lord Roper (Ship) http://qcarchives.com/sci/items/show/319]